OHL Kingston Frontenacs

Fronts Suffer Heart Breaking Loss to the Spirit

Published on January 24, 2020 under Ontario Hockey League (OHL)
Kingston Frontenacs News Release


The Frontenacs welcomed an American team to Kingston on Friday night for the final time this season. Their opponent was the Saginaw Spirit who played in Peterborough on Thursday night when they beat the Petes 6-2. Kingston hadn't played since their win on Monday night over the Hamilton Bulldogs. This was the first match-up of the season between Kingston and Saginaw.

The Frontenacs were looking for a better start than they had in their previous two games, and they got it. Their top line went to work early in the period.

Shane Wright found Martin Chromiak with a perfect pass to the slot. Chromiak faked to the backhand and went to the forehand to beat Saginaw starter Tristan Lennox. It gave Kingston a lead at 3:15 of the opening period.

Minutes later the Spirit went on the man advantage. They had two strong scoring chances, but Ryan Dugas made two spectacular saves to hold onto the lead. The Frontenacs were outshot 8-7 in the period but took a 1-0 lead to the dressing room.

The strong opening period gave Kingston a boost of confidence heading to the second, and they took full advantage.

Lucas Rowe extended the lead to 2-0 at the midway point of the game with his sixth goal of the season. Dustin Hutton and Francesco Arcuri earned assists on the goal that gave Kingston a 2-0 lead.

They extended that lead further at 13:01 of the second period. Jakob Brahaney made a great play at the blue line to keep the puck in the offensive zone. He walked into a scoring area and took a shot that created a rebound for Zayde Wisdom to tap underneath Lennox. The power play goal made it 3-0 for the Black and Gold.

Things were looking great early into the third period as well. Shane Wright scored just over a minute into the period to extend the lead to 4-0.

Unfortunately, the game took a sharp turn at that point. Cole Perfetti beat Ryan Dugas, who was completely screened, to get Saginaw on the board.

The Spirit scored again a few minutes later with one of the nicest goals of the season. DJ Busdeker buried a beautiful drop pass from Danil Antropov. The goal gave Saginaw all the momentum and you could feel an uneasiness in the building.

Just before the TV timeout they closed the gap further when Mitchell Smith found the back of the net to make it 4-3.

The high scoring offence kept coming and Cole Perfetti tied the game when he tucked the puck around Dugas while falling for his second of the game.

The crushing blow came after Kingston iced the puck late. With 14 seconds left they faced a defensive zone faceoff. Saginaw won the draw and Damien Giroux scored with less than 3 seconds left to give the Spirit a 5-4 come from behind victory.

The Frontenacs head to Oshawa on Saturday to take on the Generals at 2:05. The game can be seen on Rogers Sportsnet. Following that game, they return to Leon's Centre on Sunday to host the Niagara IceDogs on Bell Let's Talk Night. Please note the special start time of 7 PM for a Sunday game. Tickets can be purchased at the Leon's Centre box office or at ticketmaster.ca.

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Ontario Hockey League Stories from January 24, 2020


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